


a little surprise

by andromedagalaxy



Series: Philkas College Verse [29]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-09
Updated: 2017-07-09
Packaged: 2018-11-29 18:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11446383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andromedagalaxy/pseuds/andromedagalaxy
Summary: “Well, you know I’m already overrun with these three lunatics as it is. I don’t necessarily need a fourth. And I know how partial your little Philip is to pups, especially to my Pumpkin. And like I said, this girl—”“—looks like Pumpkin,” Lukas says, putting the pieces together. He’s been meaning to get Philip a puppy for a while now, and he knew he wanted to adopt from a shelter when he did. It feels too perfect. But Philip is too perfect, so it’s just cosmic destiny that a perfect situation would be handed to him to hand right over to Philip. “Can I come over now?” Lukas asks.He hears Angela squealing. “Yes, boy, get over here!”





	a little surprise

Lukas sits in the diner down the street from his Computer Studies class and eats his burger, drumming his fingers on the table. He hates Tuesdays now because his and Philip’s schedules are exactly opposite, and they don’t get to see each other until late because Philip’s History of Photography class runs until seven. 

He texts Philip. _Thinking about me in class?_

_Always_ Philip replies, a moment later. _You eating dinner?_

Lukas picks at his fries, dipping one into the ketchup. He types out a response with one finger. _Sadly. Lonely. We only get three hours together tonight before we have to go to sleep._

Lukas sighs, wishing it was Friday already. On Friday they both only have two classes early in the morning, and then they have the whole weekend off.

_We’ve got date night Thursday. Then Friday and the weekend are all ours :)_

Lukas smiles down at the screen. _Sneak a pic of yourself, I wanna see your cute face._

A few minutes pass and Lukas smiles to himself, eating another fry. Then Philip’s next message comes through and it’s even cuter than Lukas had been expecting. It looks like he’s holding his phone low and he’s leaning on his fist, staring straight ahead. Lukas barely saw him this morning when Philip kissed him goodbye, and he sees that Philip is wearing that red t-shirt that Lukas likes.

_Mmm, you look good. Can’t wait to kiss you._

Philip replies almost immediately. _Gonna cuddle you so hard tonight, babe._

Lukas snorts, and then he gets another message that isn’t from Philip. It’s Angela. Lukas takes a sip of water and opens the message, straightening up a little bit. 

_Lukas I did something that might be a little silly! A little crazy! Can you call me?_

Lukas’s heart rattles in his chest and he can’t imagine what the hell it might be, worries about the puppies for a moment before he makes himself think rationally. He dials her number, bringing the phone to his ear. 

“Hey, I was worried you’d be in class!” Angela says.

“Nah, I don’t have anything too late this semester, I’m eating dinner,” Lukas rattles off. “You okay? I gotta beat somebody up?”

“Awww, that’s sweet, honey, but no, the only person you should probably beat up is me,” she says.

Lukas snorts. “Yeah right. What’s going on?”

“Well, I was doing God’s good work surfing the internet and sharing posts about animals in need, when I came across this little puppy princess—Lukas. She looks just like my children, it’s insane. She’s red merle, so she looks the most like Pumpkin.”

“You saw her online?” Lukas asks. “In a shelter?”

“In a high kill shelter, Lukas. She had two days to live.”

Lukas’s heart takes a dive. “Had?” he says. “Past tense? What horrible story are you calling me with?”

“Had because I saved that little nugget,” Angela says. “But I, uh—wanted to ask you something. Wanted to, uh—see something.”

Lukas looks off to the side. “Yes?”

“Well, you know I’m already overrun with these three lunatics as it is. I don’t necessarily need a fourth. And I know how partial your little Philip is to pups, especially to my Pumpkin. And like I said, this girl—”

“—looks like Pumpkin,” Lukas says, putting the pieces together. He’s been meaning to get Philip a puppy for a while now, and he knew he wanted to adopt from a shelter when he did. It feels too perfect. But Philip is too perfect, so it’s just cosmic destiny that a perfect situation would be handed to him to hand right over to Philip. “Can I come over now?” Lukas asks.

He hears Angela squealing. “Yes, boy, get over here!”

He waves the waiter down so he can get the check, and he feels excitement rising in his throat. 

~

It always takes what feels like forever to get to Angela’s apartment in Long Island, but it’s worth it as soon as he steps inside. The puppies swarm him and the new little one is right in the middle of the pack. Pumpkin, Cheddar and Taffy are little teenage terrors now, and he can tell how young the new one is compared to the other three by her size. But she’s jumping up and down with them, seemingly unaware or unafraid of any attempts the others make to trample her. 

“Go on!” Angela says, laughing and stepping back. “Pluck her right out from under those crazies.”

Taffy barks in response and Lukas giggles, reaching down and taking the puppy in his arms. She immediately starts wiggling but it’s only because her tail is wagging so hard. She licks at his chin and Lukas grins, trying to get a good look at her. 

“Why was she in the shelter?” he asks. 

“Owner surrender,” Angela says, with disdain. “Seems like they just didn’t like the poor little thing, the shelter said they didn’t give any real reason. I think they were breeders and she didn’t come out the way they wanted. She’s potty trained which is half a miracle, so I guess they did one thing right. Seven months old.”

Lukas looks into her eyes when he catches her in a calm moment. They’re very light blue, different than he’s ever seen on a dog. Most of her is a light grey except for a few patches, like the puppies. All four of her feet are white, and there are red swatches near her eyes, around her muzzle, and on her back legs. She’s goddamn adorable.

“Is that a look of love on your face?” Angela asks, grinning. 

“Maybe.” Lukas shrugs a little bit, holding the puppy closer so she’s draped over his shoulder. “When did you get her?”

“Yesterday,” she says. “I’ve been trying to keep them separated so these guys don’t get too attached to her just…just in case _someone_ …was interested.” She whistles, looking up at the ceiling. 

“Did you adopt her with us in mind?” Lukas asks, petting down the puppy’s back.

“Well, I had my mini panic attack and went in there with no real thoughts in my head. But once I had her home I got the idea. But there’s no pressure, none whatsoever. I could manage four. Might take a couple years off my life, but I could do it.”

Lukas tries to picture the puppy in their apartment and it’s way too easy. He can already imagine where they’ll put her bed. Where they’ll walk her, what kind of food they’ll get. Whether or not Philip will feed her table scraps (he absolutely will). “I don’t think I can say no to this,” Lukas says. “It’s too perfect. She’s precious.”

“Really?” Angela exclaims. 

“Yeah,” Lukas says, nodding.

Angela jumps up and down and the puppies all start barking. She rushes Lukas and wraps him up in a hug, which makes the puppy start licking him again. “You wanna take her tonight?” Angela asks, pulling back.

“Yeah,” Lukas says. “It’s gonna be a really sweet surprise.”

“Alright sweetheart, oh my God,” Angela says, looking around. “I’ve got all the supplies for you, carrier, food, collar, the works…we can change the adoption papers sometime this week so she’ll be officially yours…”

“Is that easy?” Lukas asks, scratching the puppy behind her ear and feeling her foot kick.

“Simple as pie,” Angela says. “Now you’re sure, right? I’m not forcing you?”

Lukas reels back a little bit and the puppy immediately starts licking his face again. “No way. Honestly, I’ve been meaning to get Philip a dog. You know how he is. He’s gonna flip out. I was actually just gonna ask you if they could put both his and my name on the papers.”

“Course they can,” Angela says. “You got any idea what you want to name her? I didn’t want to tell you what they were calling her so you didn’t have anything clouding your head. It was stupid, anyhow, she wasn’t responding to it.”

Lukas laughs. “I think Philip and I will figure it out together.”

~

He gets all kinds of looks on the subway and so many girls are smiling at him. He keeps talking to the puppy through her carrier door and she, surprisingly, doesn’t seem afraid to be out of Angela’s apartment. 

“You excited to meet your new daddy?” Lukas whispers, grinning when she starts licking his fingers through the door. “Yeah? We’re gonna make you a surprise. When Philip comes home from class he’s gonna freak out, yes.” He rolls his eyes at himself when he realizes that he’s already using baby talk.

~

Lukas sits on the couch, drumming his fingers on his knees. He’s been lucky so far that the puppy hasn’t barked yet from where he’s stowed her away, but he’s terrified she’s gonna start up as soon as she hears Philip’s voice. He draws his pendant back and forth on its chain, listening to the sound it makes around his neck. He isn’t doubting himself at all, he knows that Philip is gonna love this, but Lukas is already way too committed to the surprise aspect that he wants it to all go down perfectly. He cracks his wrist and sighs, staring a hole through the door.

About five minutes later it opens. He leaps from his seat and sees Philip pushing his way inside, already yawning. He kicks the door shut and locks it, smiling sleepily at Lukas when he approaches.

“Hey baby,” Philip says, looking him up and down. 

“Hey,” Lukas says, his breath getting caught in his throat. He cups Philip’s face in his hands and presses their lips together. “Mmm, ice cream for dinner again?” Lukas asks.

Philip narrows his eyes but he’s smiling, hanging his bag on the hook on the wall. “I ate a hot dog first,” he says. 

“Ah, sure,” Lukas says, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Hot dog flavored ice cream.”

Philip makes a gagging noise. “Gross, Lukas,” he says, walking towards their bedroom. “That’s almost as bad as when you tried to make me eat that bacon ice cream.”

Lukas’s heart is raging in his chest as he follows him, and he tries to figure out how to keep talking about bacon ice cream when Philip is so close to where the puppy is. 

“That shit was good,” Lukas blurts out, way too loud.

Philip scoffs. “You’re crazy.” He opens the bathroom door and almost as soon as he flips the light on the puppy starts dancing on the spot, standing by the tub. Philip gasps and looks like he’s frozen in time, his eyes wider than Lukas has ever seen them. The puppy whines and pants, her little nails making tap noises on the tile. 

“Lukas,” Philip breathes, one hand pressing over his heart. 

“Yes?” Lukas asks, smiling so hard his cheeks hurt.

“Lukas,” Philip says again. 

Lukas pushes the bathroom door open a little farther. “So she’s—lemme see if I can say this right and seem really cool like Angela does.” He clears his throat. “She’s a seven month old red merle Australian shepherd puppy. She was an owner surrender, her adoption fees are paid, we just have to go and take Angela’s name off the papers and put ours on. She’s, uh—she’s potty trained. She’s really cute, she loves giving kisses—”

“Lukas,” Philip says for a third time, still staring down at the puppy and sounding a lot more desperate. “Oh my God. Oh my God.”

Lukas chuckles and he’s so fucking excited he’s close to dancing just like the puppy is. He bends down and picks her up, holding her close to Philip. She immediately starts licking Philip’s face and Philip laughs incredulously, his eyes meeting Lukas’s.

“She’s ours?” Philip asks, his voice small. “Mine and yours?”

“Yeah, she’s ours, if that’s okay,” Lukas says, a tinge of worry shooting through him.

“If that’s…” Philip trails off, shaking his head, and immediately takes the puppy out of Lukas’s arms and into his own. He hugs her close and Lukas can see the tears shining in his eyes. “Oh my God, Lukas, I can’t believe it. I cannot. I can’t.”

Lukas leans in, pressing a kiss to Philip’s forehead. “I knew you wanted a dog.”

“Of course you did, I say it all the time,” Philip says, petting the puppy’s head. “I literally always try to steal Angela’s puppies.”

Lukas snorts, scratching the puppy behind her ear again. “That’s true. Maybe that’s why she adopted this one and gave it to us. And all the supplies we could need. We’re good with food for like a month.”

“We’re forever in her debt,” Philip says. He pets the puppy’s head and beams at her, his eyes still wet. Lukas reaches out and wipes away the tears, and Philip smiles fondly at him. “Baby, for real? Am I dreaming? Do we have a dog right now? Am I holding our dog?”

“You’re holding our dog,” Lukas says, feeling incredibly proud of himself and incredibly grateful to Angela. “Our new child.”

Philip giggles high and happy at that, kissing the puppy’s neck. “This is my favorite Tuesday.”

“We need to think of a name for her,” Lukas says. “Right now.”

“Right now?”

“Right now.”

Philip chews on his bottom lip for all of two seconds before he looks at Lukas again. “Izzy,” he says. 

“Izzy?” Lukas asks. “Short for Elizabeth?”

“No, just Izzy.”

“You came up with that really fast. Have you been thinking about this?” Lukas asks, narrowing his eyes. 

“Of course I have,” Philip says, holding the puppy possessively. “If we had gotten a boy dog its name would have been Oreo.”

“Even if he wasn’t black and white?” Lukas asks, laughing.

Philip nods. “Do you like Izzy?”

“The name?” Lukas asks. “Yes. It’s adorable.”

“You’re adorable,” Philip says, shoving forward and pressing a hard kiss to Lukas’s mouth. Izzy seems to enjoy it because she shifts around in Philip’s arms, trying to lick both of them at the same time. “I love her,” Philip says. “I love you. I love everything. I’m so happy.”

Lukas nuzzles their noses together, scratching up Izzy’s back. “We’re parents, Philip,” he says. “I didn’t think it’d happen when we were this young.”

“We’re gonna be the best dog dads ever,” Philip says, and Izzy barks in agreement. 

“She seems to think so,” Lukas says.

“Come on,” Philip says. “Let’s dog-proof our entire apartment.”

Lukas grins, eager to show him everything Angela gave them. He follows him out into the living room, and his heart swells when he sees Philip rocking Izzy back and forth in his arms, whispering to her. 

Best. Tuesday. Ever.


End file.
